Wednesday, May 23, 2007

I’m Going To Expose Myself!

Yes, that’s right folks. I’m going to publicly expose myself today. Why, oh why, would I do such a thing, you ask? Blame it on reader “Right Out Loud”! She “tagged” me to post seven random facts about myself on my blog. (Pop over to her blog to read her random facts.) The idea of posting random facts about myself seemed a bit strange at first. Who cares about that? Nobody wants to read random things about me, I thought. Then I decided that perhaps it’s about time that I expose myself a bit more to you. From time to time, I post a little taste of this or that of a more personal nature, but primarily I stick to knitting and yarn (which are, of course, FAR more interesting than anything I could say about myself). After a bit more thought, I decided to take this public exposure another step and actually show myself. Imagine that?! Several of you have sent me e-mails prodding me to stop cutting my head off in finished project photos. I don’t know why I do that really. I suppose it just feels strange to post a picture of myself on my blog. HERE I AM! LOOK AT ME! Just not my style. With that said, I do understand the desire to put a face to a name. When you see someone’s face, it’s only natural that you feel you know them better. I’ve been talking up a storm on my blog now for over a year, and only once if I recall correctly have I posted a photo with a fuzzy, slightly distant shot of my face. And so . . . the time has come to publicly expose myself wearing my latest finished project.

But first, the seven random facts:

Fact 1: I really, really hate to impose on anyone. If my car broke down and my husband was at work, I’d probably walk 10 miles before I’d call a friend for a ride. I’m just weird that way. I mention this as Fact #1 for a reason. In this “7 random facts” game of tag, I simply cannot bring myself to tag anyone. What if they don’t want to be tagged? What if they view said tagging as presumptuous and an imposition? Since I’m a bit of a rebel, I’m going to break the rules of the game. (Go ahead. Report me to the authorities. I dare ya!) Instead of tagging anyone and possibly imposing on someone who may not want to be tagged (heaven forbid), I will generally ask those of you who read this and who have your own blogs to please consider yourself tagged . . . that is, only if you want to be tagged. If you decide to post 7 random facts about yourself on your blog, please be sure to leave a comment here so I and other readers can pop over to your blog and read them.

Fact 2: I was born in Manhattan. Greenwich Village to be exact.

Fact 3: I find it very difficult to fall asleep if Seinfeld isn’t on the television.

Fact 4: I am a terrible cook. On the other hand, I am one hell of an eater. Seriously. It's been difficult for me since I turned 40 a couple of years ago, when apparently my metabolism suddenly stopped dead in its tracks.

Fact 5: I haven’t worn a single piece of jewelry (except my wedding ring) in about 10 years, perhaps even 15 years.

Fact 6: I love a good con movie. Not the short-con, but the long-con. You know the type, with an elaborate setup of the mark, where every little piece needs to be planned meticulously and everything must fall perfectly into place. I used to love the episodes of Mission Impossible where they had a really good con going. The Sting, of course, is the ultimate long-con movie. House of Games is a pretty good one too (little known, but available in most video stores if there are any other lovers of the long-con out there). The Grifters wasn't bad either. If you happen to know of a good con movie, I’d love some recommendations.

Fact 7: This is the big one. The grand admission. The deep, dark secret from which there is no return. Deep breath. Here goes: I am a reality TV addict. WAIT! Before you click away in disgust, let me defend myself! I do NOT watch Real World or Big Brother or The Bachelor or Fear Factor or anything like that. The shows that I’m addicted to are mostly the Bravo shows that focus on a particular profession, with a competition to find the best in that profession: Project Runway (fashion designers), Top Chef (chefs, duh), Top Design (interior designers), and even to an extent Shear Genius (hair stylists). I can’t help myself. I love them! Even my husband is addicted to them now. He scoffed at me when I told him about Project Runway, but after watching just one episode he was totally hooked. In fact, during commercials he joins me in discussing the competitors and their projects. I knew there was no turning back for him when I asked what he thought of one of the competitors’ chances and he responded that he thought her designs weren’t "fashion forward" enough.

If you haven’t watched these Bravo shows, you don’t know what you’re missing! Unfortunately, only one of the four mentioned shows is on at any given time. They run around 13 weeks each. Shear Genius (by far my least favorite of the four) is on now, but a new season of Top Chef will start after that’s over. Project Runway is, however, my ultimate favorite. I can’t wait for it to return.

About the only thing I can imagine better than Project Runway would be a knitting version of Project Runway. Perhaps Stephanie Pearl-McPhee could host? I can see it now:

(Camera pans the designers, with varied expressions from enthusiasm to boredom to disdain.)

Stephanie: For your materials you will use . . .(Dramatic pause … arm sweeps to the right and camera pans over to show a huge stack of old newspapers.)

(Cut to the confessional room where Contestant Mary is talking into the camera. She’s a 50-something woman with a British accent, neat and meticulously groomed, attired in a classic and conservative knit suit.) Mary (eyes rolling): Ridiculous! I design with cashmere. Silk. Vicuna, for god’s sake. Old newspapers? This is not knitting. This is not design. This is an insult to my profession.

(Cut to the confessional room where Contestant Destiny is talking into the camera. She’s a 20-something girl with spiked orange hair and a pierced tongue.) Destiny: I’m tho exthited about thith challenge. It’th right up my alley. I love working with rethycled materialth.**************

Ah yes, it would certainly be a hit show with me!

Alright. That’s it for the random facts. And now on to my finished project. This is the Feather and Fans scarf from the pattern by Anne of KnitSpot that I started a couple of weeks ago. I used FF Laceweight Merino Wool in the Antique Rose colorway.

I really, really love this scarf (despite the fact that I look a little angry and/or depressed in this photo!). In fact, I think it may be the start of a new obsession with lace scarf knitting. You know I do love lace, but as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t really have a shawl lifestyle. But a scarf? I could wear this anywhere. I’m suddenly envisioning adding a whole rainbow of lace scarves to my sadly sparse spring and summer wardrobe.

Absolutely lovely Deb! Gotta love the lace:) I'm with you on Project Runway and I did even catch a little of the Top Chef too. As for con movies, I agree with the Usual Suspects and the Sting. Happy knitting!

Project Runway is absolutely the best show EVER. Among reality shows, anyway. I planned to hate Top Chef, but ended up really liking it. The other two I just haven't been able to get into.

My really guilty secret? America's Next Top Model.

I've been working on some socks with your yarn, and am so loving them. It is endlessly entertaining to watch the color emerge in the fabric. Will send you a photo when they're done, but I'm a very slow knitter so it will probably be a while.

So nice of you to "expose" yourself. I hate to trouble people for things too. It takes a lot for me to ask people for help, I tend to just take care of it myself.I like some reality tv shows too, but more in the vein of Project Runway vs. The Bachelor, nothing wrong with it, I say.

Though it's hard to ask for help it can be a good thing to the person who renders the aid. Most people like to temporarily come to someone's rescue. Even though I learned that way back in college it's still hard to feel vulnerable.

Oh, oh, do I have a con movie for you. Nine Queens, an Argentine movie directed by Fabián Bielinsky. It's in Spanish with subtitles. My husband shows this to his high school Spanish students, and he always reports whether they gasped and ewwwwwed in all the right places.